


The Kingsguard

by tisziny



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: AU, F/M, Ficathon, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-09
Updated: 2013-11-09
Packaged: 2017-12-31 23:12:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1037519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tisziny/pseuds/tisziny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: The Doctor is a King and River is his bodyguard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Kingsguard

**Author's Note:**

> prompt from hardcorenamine on tumblr.

John smiled as he saw the thick of the trees ahead. This forest was his sanctuary, his escape from the world he hated.

 

Oh it was a fine life, the life of a king. He had plenty of servants and noblemen, knights and advisors, the pick of any woman he wanted -or he would if he had any interest in women- but he had a large and warm bed, clothes that never itched, all the food he could ever wish to eat, freshly made to his precise tastes. His people loved him. The neighbouring kingdoms were at peace with him and, from his input, each other. All was fine and well.

 

But he was lonely, and rather bored. It was strange how little freedom he had. He could not go out and wander the streets as he wished, he could not meet new people unless they were of status and invited by his advisor to a royal ball. Or else the poorest of the poor, set before him with their sad begging as he gave them food and blankets and set up a way for all his uneaten and other wise wasted food to be taken through the kingdom and given to those who needed it. He longed for adventure, but alas, the only adventure a king could have was at war, or perhaps the ball of a neighbouring kingdom. Neither took his fancy.

 

Instead John had found he was rather adept at running away.

 

He would slip out to his royal stables and find his best horse, or rather, his favourite horse. The old girl was an affectionate thing, and she let him mount her without any trouble. She wasn’t, however, the easiest horse to ride, having not been trained like some of his stallions. But he loved her, and he rode her whenever he could, escaping to the forest so he could sit by the river and simply escape from it all.

 

Currently he was entering a small path, just wide enough for the old girl. It wasn’t going to be long from here, about ten minutes until he found the clearing and his spot by the river, so John smiled and let himself relax.

 

"You know," said a familiar voice as he rounded the last corner to the river, "It's not very nice to run away from a lady."

 

°Who’s a lady?" He asked, "I thought you were my guard."

 

He dismounted the old girl and swaggered across the damp grass toward the woman. She had been waiting for him, it seemed: stood against a tree with a glare, hands on her hips, long blonde curls falling down across her shoulders like a lion's mane.

 

"Then perhaps it's just stupid instead."

 

John grinned. "Perhaps it is," he agreed.

 

She pushed herself off from the tree and stepped with him to the river edge, looking down to the gentle wash of water over rocks.

 

"Why did you come here?"

 

"Why did you?"

 

"It is my job to protect you."

 

"You were here before I was."

 

She rolled her eyes, "You come here an awful lot, Your Majesty; I knew the way. And that horse you insist on riding isn't exactly the brightest thing, or perhaps that is just you on her."

 

He scowled at the insult. He was a perfectly fine rider, and the old girl was a perfectly fine horse. "A comment like that could have you hanged."

 

She snorted, a sound John had never heard from a lady before. But she wasn't exactly a typical lady. She was a fighter, a protector as she'd said. She was his King’s Guard. A new one, but clearly she was proving herself to be quite efficient at her task. None of the others had ever found John on his journeys with the old girl.

 

"You've never hanged a soul in your life."

 

"Then perhaps I will start with you."

 

She laughed again, stifling the noise into her hand, completely disbelieving.

 

He sniffed, looking away, slightly perturbed at her reaction.  “I'm glad you find my threat so amusing."

                                                                                         

"Was that a threat was it? Sounded more like foreplay."

 

John choked, coughing in an attempt to disguise his discomfort. His red face gave him away however, and the strange woman smirked.

 

"What is your name?" He asked her suddenly, turning to face her.

 

"And why should I tell you that?"

 

"Because I am your King." When she raised her eyebrows he continued, "A king should know the names of those who guard him."

 

"A king should allow those who guard him to actually guard him without traipsing through the forest."

 

He laughed at that.

 

"How about this;" He proposed, "I will return with you to the castle right now, if you tell me your name."

 

"That's it?"

 

"What would you suggest?"

 

"You return with me to the castle now, then promise not to leave the castle without at least one guard by your side." she said, "and then, after that, I will tell you my name."

 

He raised his eyebrows at her, "Are you serious?"

 

"I'm always serious."

 

He narrowed his eyes. "I have other means of finding your name."

 

She laughed, "Assuming the name I go by is true."

 

"It isn't?"

 

She smirked.

 

John scowled and turned his back on her, walking along the bank of the river slowly away from her. He heard her following shortly behind him but tried to ignore it. He had come here to escape and so escape he would. But unfortunately, just because he could not see her behind him did not mean he could fully relax as though she was not there. He had no hope to escape even within the confines of his own mind.

 

"I don't like it." He said suddenly, stopping still.

 

She stopped just as quickly, raising an eyebrow as still he refused to look at her.

 

"I'm sorry?"

 

"The castle," he explained, "I don't like it there. I don't like to be king. But if I am not king the kingdom would overruled and the peace I have worked to create would crumble behind me. The people would suffer. They do not deserve that because I am unhappy."

 

"Can you not abdicate?"

 

"I have no heir to abdicate to, and no wish to make one." he told her, "The woman my advisor wishes I would marry, the daughters from other kingdoms... I have no interest in them."

 

"Have you no interest in anyone?"

 

John considered this and turned to face her, a wry smile hinting from the corner of his mouth. "Oh I suppose there is one woman to have caught my eye." He said,

 

"And is she not suitable?"

 

"She would not be interested, I fear," John said, "As beautiful as she is I am quite sure she finds me insufferably irritating, as she should. I do put her through a lot of trouble. She can hardly return my interest and I would not be the kind to force an unwilling woman into marriage."

 

"How can you be so sure, Your Majesty? Women throughout the kingdom would gladly give themselves to be your wife."

 

"Ahh but this woman is different. You see I don't even know her name. She refuses to tell me."

 

His guard blushed in spite of herself.

 

"My name, sir, is River."

 

John smirked, "I know."

 

"Then why ask?"

 

"I wanted to see what you would say."

 

"And is my answer satisfactory, sir?"

 

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I suppose it is. After all, I do quite like to escape to the River."


End file.
